English 8175–Global Rhetorics

Instructor: Classroom: Class Hours: Office: Office Phone: Office Hours: Email: Course Site:

Baotong Gu Langdale Hall 703 11:00-12:15 Tuesdays & Thursdays 25 Park Place, Suite 2437 404-413-5845 (English) 8:30-9:30 am TR and by appointment bgu@gsu.edu https://sites.gsu.edu/bgu

Course Texts
Readings (see schedule)

Course Goals
What do we mean by “global rhetorics”? Simply understood, it refers to the rhetorics of different cultures. While we can’t really fault such a definition, the globalized nature of today’s world necessitates many convergent as well as divergent affordances among and between cultures and their rhetorics. Over the decades, we have witnessed a series of terms that try to capture the essence of the converging and diverging natures of different cultures and rhetorics: contrastive rhetoric, comparative rhetoric, intercultural rhetoric, cross-cultural rhetoric, and, of course, global rhetoric.

Whatever the term, several things are self evident when it comes to global rhetorics. First, rhetoric is quintessentially cultural. Rhetoric can’t exist without its culture. To understand a particular rhetoric, we must first understand the cultural container that begets the particular rhetoric. Second, the purpose of understanding different rhetorics is ultimately to identify and avoid breakdowns in cross-cultural communication that result from rhetorical differences. Third, whatever commonalities we can conclude about a particular rhetoric and culture, communication is ultimately a situated act and involves a series of complicated contextual factors such as agent, agency, scene, and purpose (sounds like Burke’s pentad? Well it is).

We will approach global rhetorics in the following ways: 1) historically, we can examine the evolutions of the rhetorical traditions to give us a better sense of how a particular rhetoric has come to the point where it is; 2) geopolitically, we can delineate the cultural and political boundaries that define different rhetorics; 3) thematically, we can explore how issues impact and shape particular rhetorics. Our readings and discussions will reflect an integration of these different approaches.

Upon completing the course, I hope you will be able to

• acquire a better understanding of what culture means in relation to such aspects as race, gender, class, ethnicity, nationality, etc.;
• have a better awareness of different rhetorics shaped by their particular cultures;
• articulate how culture and rhetoric shape cross-cultural communication and how cross-cultural communication, in turn, shape culture and rhetoric;
• formulate well informed theoretical perspectives on culture, rhetoric, and cross-cultural communication;
• have a critical perspective on research in this field;
• form your insights about the topics and issues worth further research;
• reflect more critically on your own experience in cross-cultural communication;
• apply theoretical understandings to real-life cross-cultural communication scenarios; and
• contribute your own insights to the field of global rhetorics and/or cross-cultural communication in your future research.

Attendance & Participation
Class participation is mandatory. A big part of your learning will come from class discussions and group work. In addition, much work, especially group work, will be done in class. If you’re not there, you’re not contributing. Therefore, regular attendance is expected.

Course Assignments
Course assignments consist of two major categories: 1) theoretical/rhetorical assignments, in which I typically require you to analyze, critique, justify, or simply explain something, such as a website or a design concept; 2) practical assignments, which are often coding assignments.

Reading Responses (200 points)
For each week’s assigned readings, you will be required to submit a 500-word written response, due the Sunday before. Each response should contain

1. A succinct one-paragraph summary of the readings
2. Your reflection on 2-3 key concepts/issues/ideas/arguments in the readings
3. At least two good discussion questions related to the issues in the readings

Your reading response will be graded on the following:

• It demonstrates your familiarity with the readings.
• It contains logical, well thought-out statements/arguments on the issues raised in the readings.
• It makes logical connections between the readings.
• It contains all the elements outlined above.

I’m more interested in your thoughts on the issues than your ability to summarize the readings.

Discussion Facilitation (100 points)
For this project, you’ll pick a particular week’s readings and will be responsible for leading the discussions on these readings in class. As the discussion facilitator, your main role is to identify the main issues and arguments in the readings, help your classmates reach a better understanding of these readings, and ask thought-provoking questions along the way to facilitate in-depth understandings of these texts.

Your reading response for this group of readings should be more detailed (about two pages).

Cross-Cultural Communication Case Analysis (300 points)
For this project, each of you will identify a recent international cross-cultural communication incident, analyze the use of rhetorical strategies used in the incident for cross-cultural communication purposes, and assess the effectiveness of such strategies. Each of you will pick a particular day for your presentation of this case. On the day of the presentation, you’ll act as a discussion facilitator and will do the following: summarizing the case scenario, presenting the main rhetorical points, and lead class discussions with well-designed questions.

You’re also required to write a reflective essay on this case. Your reflective essay is due on April 6.

Final Project (400 points)
For your final project, you have several options:

• Option 1. Academic research paper (10-20 pages, single spaced)—For this option, you’ll write a paper to be submitted to a particular journal for publication.
• Option 2. Annotated bibliography (30-40 citations)—This bibliography will focus on a specific theme related to global rhetorics or cross-cultural communication.
• Option 3. Literature review (10-15 pages, single spaced)—This too will focus on a specific theme related to global rheetorics or cross-cultural communication.
• Option 4. Pedagogical application/syllabus design—For this option, you will design an elaborate syllabus for an undergraduate course entitled “Cross-Cultural Communication.” You will also design a series of assignments for this course with detailed assignment instructions. Accompanying all this, you will also write a justification why you have designed the particular syllabus and assignments the way you did.

For any of these project options, you’re welcome to make it a collaborative project by partnering with any of your classmates.

Whatever option you choose, your final project will consist of the following components:

• Initial Proposal (50 points)—This will be a one-page proposal in which you inform me what option you have chosen for the final project, what topic your final project will be about, and your justification for doing such a project.
• Progress Report—About two thirds into the semester, you’ll be asked to present a progress report on the final project.
• Final Product (300 points)—This will be the product of whatever option you have chosen and is due at the end of the semester.
• Oral Presentation (50 points)—You’ll present your final project in the final week of the semester.

Important*
A passing grade for all the assignments is a prerequisite to, but not a guarantee for, passing the course. Observe the following rules closely:

• You must complete all the major assignments. If you miss any of the projects, you will automatically fail the class.
• Your reports and assignments should be presentable. If you hand in poorly proofread documents, they will be returned to you for correction before they are graded.
• If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out the assignments you missed. An excused absence will not get you off the hook for a tardy assignment.
• A Special Note: Submit your work on time. Late assignments are generally NOT accepted unless for extenuating circumstances. Work is considered late after class begins on the due date, unless noted otherwise. In cases where late work is accepted, there is a 10% grade reduction for each day your assignment is late.
• All projects must be submitted electronically via email unless you’re instructed otherwise.

Plagiarism
No plagiarism or any other forms of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this class. Any plagiarism, as defined by GSU’s Policy on Academic Honesty (available online at http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/codeofconduct_conpol.html), will result in a grade of F at least for the assignment (and most likely an F for the entire course at the instructor’s discretion). In addition, all university policies related to academic honesty apply.

Grading
Since your final course grade will be based predominantly on writing assignments and the grading of writing cannot be reduced to simple quantitative measures, I will grade your writing on a holistic basis. Each assignment will have specific grading criteria, which I will explain in class. Generally, however, the three general criteria below will be applied to all the major assignments:

Purpose: How effectively does the document accomplish its intended task?

• meet its goals and the demands of its context (both academic and organizational)? solve a problem or address a significant organizational need? help people?
• provide a sound argument in support if its claims?
• meet readers’ needs and expectations? Improve relations between people?
• provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?

Product: How well constructed is the document?

• orderly and coherent presentation of material?
• effective design and formatting? Correctness?
• effective use of visuals?
• professional tone and style?

Production: How effectively was the document produced?
♣ quality of planning, collaboration, research & invention, drafting, editing, proofreading?
The following is a general description of expectations for assignments for each grade:

A
Your project is of impeccable (or almost impeccable) quality in both content and format design, with no major weaknesses in any area. It provides adequate information that users need and effectively fulfills the intended purposes. Presentation is of professional quality. There’re few to no mechanical errors.

B
Your project is of high quality in most of the major areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes quite effectively. Presentation is quite professional. There’re only a few mechanical errors.

C
Your project is of reasonable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to a large extent, although major deficiencies are observable. Presentation is of semi-professional quality. There’re some mechanical errors, but not to the extent of seriously affecting readers’ comprehension.

D
Your project is of acceptable quality in most areas. It fulfills the user’s needs and your intended purposes to some extent, but major deficiencies exist in several areas. Presentation quality is acceptable but low. There’re quite some mechanical errors.

F
Your project is unacceptable in quality. It does not fulfill the user’s needs or your intended purposes. Major deficiencies are observed in most areas. Presentation quality is poor, and there’re too many mechanical errors.

Assignment Submission
Here’re some general guidelines concerning assignment submission. Please follow them carefully.

• All assignments are to be turned in electronically, unless instructed otherwise. Generally, this means you email your assignment to me as an attachment either in Word or rtf format. The electronic submission benefits both you and me in several ways: you have some evidence of submission, plus the submission time; it’s easier for me to comment electronically on your project; and I tend to write a lot more electronically than with a pen.
• All assignment files must be named in specific ways, generally the assignment name followed by your last name in parentheses, e.g., “Intro(Gu).doc.” This is mainly for my convenience when saving your file.

When emailing me, make sure your subject line starts with our course number 8175 followed by the assignment name, e.g., “8175 Intro Memo Assignment.”

Grade Conversion

A: A-: B+: B: B-: C+: C: C-: D+: D: D-: F:

930-1000 900-929 870-899 830-869 800-829 770-799 730-769 700-729 670-699 630-669 600-629 599 & below